Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in English - 100, 200, 500 Words

Srinivasa Ramanujan was the greatest mathematician of all time. He is still remembered for his contributions to the field of mathematics. Theorems formulated by him are to date studied by students across the world and within very few years of his lifespan, he made some exceptional discoveries in mathematics. Here are a few sample essays on Srinivasa Ramanujan.

100 Words Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a renowned mathematician of India. He was born on 22 December 1887 in Madras during the British Raj. Since childhood, he was drawn towards maths and took a particular interest in learning the subject. He did not receive formal education in mathematics but had mastered maths in various sections. During his time in Cambridge, he grew close to the great mathematician named Hardy. Together they invented the Hardy-Ramanujan number 1729. He got married at the age of 22 to Janakiammal on 14th July 1904. He wrote several books based on his theories and formulas. He even received the K. Ranganatha Rao prize for mathematics. On 26 April 1920, he departed at the age of 32.

200 Words Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a well-known Indian Mathematician who was born on 22 December 1887 during British rule. He was born in a poor Indian village, Erode, belonging to a Tamil family. His father’s name was Kuppuswamy Srinivas Aiyangar who worked as a clerk in a saree shop, and his mother was a religious housewife. They lived in Erode only for a year and then moved to Kumbakonam.

In this small town, Ramanujan attended many primary schools and achieved a distinction in his primary education. At the age of thirteen, he focused his attention on the sum of geometric and arithmetic series and in 1902, he created a method to solve quadratic equations and even explored Euler’s Constant. In the same year, he received a scholarship for his outstanding performance in his studies, and therefore he was admitted at Kumbakonam’s Government college.

His passion for mathematics grew more robust, and hence he excelled in maths but failed in other subjects. The failure caused him depression, and he fled to Visakhapatnam without telling his parents. One year later, he returned to study and passed the First Art examination but again failed in all and passed in maths.

He published his first paper based on Bernoulli numbers in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society and received recognition and achievement. His hard work paid off, and he was appointed as a clerk at Madras Port Trust. At this time, he became famous throughout Madras and caught the attention of C.L.T Griffith who helped Ramanujan. Later, Ramanujan graduated from London and held a degree in Science for research on highly composite numbers.

500 Words Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan

Ramanujan is referred to as an Indian Mathematician who lived during the British period and who contributed substantially to mathematics analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions. He has been described by many as a simple person with pleasant manners.

He was well-versed in the Brahmin culture and followed particular eating habits. Just before turning 10 years old, he passed his primary education in English, Tamil, geography and arithmetic. His scores were the best in the district. In the same year, he encountered formal mathematics for the first time.

Education

At the age of sixteen, he acquired a library copy of ‘A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics’ from a friend. He studied the contents of the book thoroughly. The next year, he developed and investigated the Bernoulli numbers and calculated Euler’s constant up to 15 decimals. His peers could hardly understand his nature, and were always in awe because of his brilliance. Due to his extraordinary mind, he received a scholarship to study at Government Arts College, Kumbakonam. But he lost this scholarship because of his firm determination towards studying only maths and ignoring other subjects.

Later, too he failed in subjects like English, Sanskrit and physiology. In 1906, he flunked his Fellow of Arts exam in December. Without a FA degree, he left college and decided to study independently in mathematics through research and referring books. Such a condition caused him extreme poverty, and he reached the brink of starvation.

Ramanujan met deputy collector V. Ramaswamy Aiyer in 1910, who was the founder of the Mathematical society and wished to work in the revenue department. When Ramanujan showed his mathematics book to him, he stated that he was struck by the extraordinary mathematical results contained in Ramanujan’s books. As he advanced further in maths, he even wrote his formal paper on the properties of Bernoulli numbers.

A journal editor M.T. Narayana Iyengar noted that Ramanujan’s methods and presentation was terse and lacked precision and clearness. An ordinary person could hardly follow him. In England, he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts by Research degree. He was also elected to the London Mathematical Society. Ramanujan was the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Achievements of Srinivasa Ramanujan

At the age of 12, he had completely read Loney’s book on Plane Trigonometry and A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics, which were way beyond the standard of a high school student

In 1916, he was granted a Bachelor of Science degree “by research” at the Cambridge University

In 1918, he became the first Indian to be honoured as a Fellow of the Royal Society

In 1997, The Ramanujan Journal was launched to publish work “in areas of mathematics influenced by Ramanujan”

The year 2012 was declared as the National Mathematical Year as it marked the 125th birth year of one of the greatest Indian mathematicians

Since 2021, his birth anniversary, December 22, is observed as the National Mathematicians Day every year in India.